Holiday shopping season is upon us once again, and I love to share gift ideas for the food lovers in your life. As always, these are just some ideas about personal favorites – no one has asked me to promote any products. To get a good look at all this year fun finds, follow me on Pinterest.

You can’t go wrong with a good gift of food, and if you don’t get around to going homemade, here are a few recommendations. Classic cakes from Sugaree’s Bakery taste like you made them yourself. And the fabulous, unique caramels like Old Fashioned and Pretzel from Shotwell Candy are a real treat. Ricki’s Chipsticks are a chocolate chip cookie with a real difference- and highly addictive! A special gift for any cook would be a subscription to BeshBox – a monthly box of recipes, tools and ingredients straight from New Orleans chef John Besh.

I think a cookbook is about the best gift there is, and the book I am hoping to find under the tree is The Great American Cookbook by Clementine Paddleford, a beautiful reworking of a true classic. These practical and pretty little Short Stack editions are a lovely gift for the cookbook lover, covering my favorite ingredients like buttermilk, grits, sweet potatoes and more. Tara Desmond will jazz up all your meals with Choosing Sides, a wonderful book of creative side dishes. Or make eating your veggies more delicious with Sarah Copeland’s beautiful Feast: Generous Vegetarian Meals for Any Eater and Every Appetite. And for a rollicking good read (fiction this time), Cinnamon and Gunpowder combines food and pirates!